PITTSBURGH — A union member and former maintenance electrician has filed suit alleging violation of labor-management relations laws and the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Crawford County resident Steven Starcher filed a complaint on Dec. 29, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Ameridrives International a/k/a Altra Industrial Motions a/k/a Ameridrives Couplings and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO-CLC Local 3199-10, alleging that he was fired after he was scapegoated on a pretext.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that he was terminated from his employment for exercising his FMLA rights and based on false claims about the handling of scrap at the direction of management. The plaintiff holds the corporate defendant responsible for allegedly violating FMLA and firing him unfairly, and the labor group responsible for allegedly knowing that he did not violate any company policy and yet failing to investigate the charges against him.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendants, court costs and any further relief this court grants. He is represented by Edward A. Olds of Olds Russ & Associates in Pittsburgh.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Case number 1:16-cv-00314-BR